Friends,
On Wednesday, March 25th, I gave testimony urging NY City Council members to vote to eliminate the approximately $1.5 million tax levy allocation for the the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program in 18 New York City public high schools.
Representing the Granny Peace Brigade and 22 supporting organizations, my testimony asked the council to re-direct the funds to better serve current underfunded educational programs, as well as the reduced or eliminated after school programs. The Committee on Education can find far better uses for $1.5 million taxpayerdollars than supporting a military program that s developed by the Pentagon. With little transparency or lack of oversight of curriculum or goals achieved, the military delivers the wrong message to our high school students.
For many reasons, JROTC should not be subsidized by NYC taxpayers. My testimony provided details on the disturbing aspects of the program. Briefly here are the major issues. Download the full testimony.
1/Cost of the program ($1.5 M), military instructors educational requirements, lack of NYC teacher credentials and requisite qualification, yet receiving salaries equal to licensed teachers. Each school hires 2 instructors for each class.
2/The Program focuses on military values and hierarchy, the ideas of soldiering, following commands, fitness and drills. Curriculum is developed by the military and presents a partisan pro-military view of historical, political,and moral issues.
3/Teaching approach promulgates a highly authoritarian approach, discourages criticism, and glorifies the unbroken chin of command. This curriculum does not belong in public schools.
4/Weapons – JROTC sends the wrong message about weapons. Students cannot bring weapons of any sort into school, but they can read and learn about handling them in JROTC textbooks. JROTC students carry rifles into HS assembles, during parades and drill team events.
5/Anti-Violence. In the 2015 City Council Allocation Funding document, $550,000 has been allocated to programs to teach anti-violence, anti-weaponry, and conflict resolution strategies. How confused can a student be? JROTC kids carry rifles, guns are fun and war is a game. So, what’s going on in the public high schools?
In conclusion, I noted the $1.5 million allocation should be transferred to an area of educational service being cut or reduced and better better serve the needs of our students and teachers. From art, music, sports, environmental initiatives — to hiring more, and much needed high school career guidance counselors. This subsidy for a military training program should have no place in the Mayor’s FY 2015 Education Budget, and we ask the council to eliminate and re-direct these funds for far more important educational priorities.
We look forward to the Council’s leadership on this significant educational issue.
Respectfully,
– Barbara Harris
for the Granny Peace Brigade and all listed supporters
…………………………
After I concluded, Council Member Dromm (Chair of the Committee on Education) thanked me for continuing to work on this issue and noted a follow up meeting to discuss new strategies.
Before I left, several people in the council chamber, who had previously given testimony on different budget issues, came over to thank me for the testimony. They didn’t know about JROTC or the details of the program and were strongly on our side. As we have found, as people learn more about the JROTC, they agree to eliminate taxpayer funding for the program.
Granny Peace Brigade 